Fare-zone check



G. H. HARRIS AND W. P. JACKSON.

FARE zoNE CHECK. APPLICATION FAILED MAR. 4, |920.

Patented oct. 26,1920.

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/A/ aff/v 7ans. sfo/PGE H. HARRIS Y' have invented a newand'usefull Faire-Zoner Nr 10eme f lGnomin n. HARRIS AND WILLIAM P. JACKSON. or QAKLAND, Camroiti'rmg FARE-ZONE annoia.

To aZZfwLo/m t mafI/oenccrn: Y Be 1t known that we,` GEORGEH. HARRIS and WILLIAM P. JACKSON, citizensv of the.

United States, `and residents of Oakland, county of Alameda, and State of California,

cating to passengers on vehicles, operatingthrough predetermined zonesrof travel, the

amount of fare to be paid on leaving the vehicle. y Y Y An object of the' invention is to'provide means for indicating an equitablevfare basedl upon .the length ofthe haul. Another object is Yto provide a check adapted to be givento` each passenger on his boarding the'car, from which he readily determinesAV the amount Vof fare to be paid by him on leaving the'pcar.

, Another object is the provision ,of a check of the character 'described whichfurnishes to the vfare collector a means o. recording the various amounts of-,fares collectedv byv him,

so that 'he can readily determine the total Vamount for which he must account to his emsupplyof cheeks bearing'th'e number of that Ployel-` The' invention possesses other objects and 'features-of advantagefsome of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the follow? ing description of the preferred'form of ourV inventionwhich isl illustrated in the 'draw` ings accompanying and forming part of the specification. ,Itisv to. beunderstood that we do not limit Aourselves to the showing made by the said drawings vand .descriptiomasfwe may adopt variations of thepreferred `form within `the scope of our invention as set forth in the claims. 1

Referring to the drawings: Y

Figure 1 is a plan view, showing the'face of. our cheek. Fig. 2 is 'a'plan view ,showing the'back of the check."V Eigs. 3 and 4 are face and back viewsrespectively of another check the system.

lf .In :terms ofb'road inclusion, our system contemplates the Vdivision of a passenger carrying roadinto zones, and the fixing of fares in accordance with..the number of zones traversed` by the passenger. For example,

the zones may be one-half mile in length and the fareirate, three cents for the irst mile,

two Cents for the second mile and onev cent foreach additional mile..V AForeach zone through whichthevehicle passes, thereis a Specicaton of Letters Patent. Pgatentdfoc 1920.", 'Application mea March 4, 1920.` `serial -N0. 3`3,i17. i i' hiclef in that zone receivesa check `bearing -thezone number. Suitable'signsfarrfangedalong the rightof- 'way indicateto the pas,` 60 senger'boardin'g a carpthe'jzone in which hek 1s,"'so thatl any'error in Athe' issuance of the. 1 check may be readily detected; ll'thelother I Zones in the fsystemf'are listed on theffcheck together withthe'fare toeach IQ that Zone 65 in which the check was issuedl f' j `-On leaving the car, thepassenge'rnotes the Zone in which the car then is, either Vfrom a suitablezone indicator in the car `or from .the-collectors announcement, and drops the` 70 required amount in the farebox, the collector checking thek accuracy of the f' amount and..taking` up" the `check'v'vhich is then .y

ypunched `to indicate the amount` received from the holder. The figuresiindicating'the 75 rates are so placed ongthe checks that a plu ralityof checks received byf'the'collector zin a given'A v.zone may be V.supe'rp` osed,fi"one "on the n other, and punchedlat one time", and .this is `true irrespectiveof; the individual or board-u "80y ing zonenumbers on the variousichecks. jV f Fromrthe' above. tfwill .be clear that our o urfsystem, since aloadcan-beftaken on 'and v a car startedI as. lfast as the 1 passengers" walk rthrough the gate orfdoor. `Speed 1n loading-is @f .greatimportancqfin handling 9 5 crowds Vand by elzirninating tthe'payment.ont

fareson the tearing o rrpunchng vof `cheeks Y .at this; i',ir'ne,` and distributing the vpaym ent of; fares; through the-'-runiby-the 'use of'our congestion avoided-ij fn" `vrIndetailour check-comprises a slieelaQ:of`

cheap paper, of a convenentsize, preferablyA about'V two inches wide by .six :and one-half inches long. Preferably one side gof,. the 105 sheet as shownv in Figs. 1' and 3` 1s reserved 'for a zone-number `3 which indicates,I the Zone in which they passengento whom: issued, boards 4the vehicle. This A-numbfl't'is preferably rinted inllarge type[, to }prom11'10 nently disp ay it and is accompaniedzby; the

word Zone in explanation teien check, much time .iss.aivdfu1-d'confusion.and'n100V i cance. Instructions to the passenger and other matter, as for example, a serial number, may be also placed on the face side of the sheet, as shown in Fig.- 1. 5 0n the opposite side or back of the sheet, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4:, are a series of numbers 4 arranged in columnar form under the explanatory heading Zone Each of these numbers designates a zone in the system and preferably the numbers begin with l and continue successively for as many numbers as there are zones. One or more columns may be required, two being shown in the present instance. When leaving the car the passenger refers to these zone numbers and for convenience therefore they may be designated leaving zone numbers to differentiate them from the boarding Zone number on the face of the check. On all the checks in a system, and irrespective of the varying boarding zone numbers, each leaving zone number is disposed in exactly the same location, so that if a quantity of the checks are stacked together with edges even and faces in one direction the same leaving zone .numbers are superposed.

By the side of the column of leaving `Zone numbers 4c, is another column of numbers, 6, headed Fare and comprising numbers designating the amount of fare to be paid. These numbers are arranged in juxtaposition with the leaving zone numbers, and each number -is an evaluation in terms of the fare to be paid of the distance between the boarding 'zone and the zone, opposite the number of which, it is placed. Thus in Figs. 1 and 2, the fare number 15 lies op osite the leaving zone numbers 30 and this indicates that 'for a passenger boarding the care in zone 6 and leaving it in zone 30 the fare is `fifteen cents. Referring to Figs. k3 and 4, the fare number 6 is found op osite zone number 30 indicating that a are of six cents is due from a passenger boarding the car in zone 24 vand leaving it in zone 30. The two passengers, then, both leave the car in zone 30,-one paying six and the other fifteen cents, or -a total of twenty-one cents'. The collector Aafter seeing that the correct amounts are deposited places the checks together and punches the Fare column opposite 30 in the Zone, column, *the total of the fare numbers punched equaling the total sum, z'. e., twenty one cents, deposited in the fare box. The same is also true for any number of checks taken up from passengers boarding the car in different zones, but leaving in the same zone. Thus vat the end of the run, the collector is in possession of a bundle of checks the total unched vaiuation of which should equal t e tctai amount of money collected in fares. His accountings to his employers are thus simplified and facilitated and a con venient and accurate check on collections 65 provided. I

Additional or repeated instructions to passengers, or other matter may be placed on the back of the check as shown in Fig. 2.

It will be obvious without detailed eX- planation that different sizes of checks may be used and that both boarding zone number and leaving zone numbers and fare values may be disposed on one side of the sheet. We prefer the arrangement shown however, as being the simplest and most convenient.

Summing up, the fare zone check of our invention relieves the motorman or conductor of the work of punching or tearing a check when a passenger enters the car; it determines beyond dispute the point at which the passenger boarded the car and with equal certainty indicates to both passengers and collector the'amount of the fare from that point to the point at which the passenger leaves the ca r, I t also furnishes a simple means for facilitating the accounting which the collector must make to his employers.

We claim: y 1. A Zone check for indicating the fare to be paid by a passenger on a vehicle comprising a sheet bearing a character designating the zone in which the passenger boards the vehicle, a series of characters on-sa'id sheet designating Zones in which the passenger may Yleave the vehicle, and a series of characters on said sheet evaluating in terms of the fare to be paid the distance between the boarding and leaving zones.

2. In a system of zone checks for indicating the fare to be paid by passengers on a vehicle, a series of checks, each one bearing a diiierent individual character designating one of the zones of the system, a series of characters designating all the zones of the system arranged in corresponding areas on each check, and' a series of characters on each check evaluating in terms of the fare to be paid, the distance between the zone designated by the individual character and the other zones of the system.

3. In a system of zone checks for indicating the fare to be paid by passengers on a vehicle, a series of checks, each one bea-ring a different individual character designating one of the `zones of the system, a series 'of characters designating all the zones of the system arranged in corresponding areas on each check, and a character opposite each one of said series of characters evaluating in terms of the fare to be paid, the distance betweenthe zone designated by it and the zone designated by said individual character.

4. A zone check for indicating the fare to be paid by a passenger on a vehicle comprising a sheet bearing on one side thereof a character designating the zone in which the passenger boards the vehicle, a'series of characters on the opposite side of said sheet des- 130 ignating zonesin which the passenger may leave the vehicle, and a series of characters arranged adjacentsald Vzone seriesfor indicating the fare between y the boardingl and leaving zone.

5. A plurality of Zone checks for indicatf ing the fares to be paid by passengers onv a ve icle,v each check comprising, a sheet beary ing a character designating vthe zone in which the passenger holding "the same' boarded the vehicle,` a series of characters' designating al1 the zones` in which the pas- V senger may leave the vehicle, and a series of characters in juxtaposition with the zone se(- ries andr indicating theY fare between the" boarding zone and each of the leaving zones,

said last named characters being disposed in corresponding areas on .all of said checks whereby a plurality of said checks may be punched yat one time through the characters 'indicating the fares paid by all the `passengers leaving the vehicle in each zone.

6. A, plurality ofrzone checks for indi-Y eating the fares to be paid by `passengers on.

a vehicle, each check comprising a sheet bearing a number designating the zone 1n which the passengerholding .they vsanne y i boarded the vehicle, a series of numbers consecutlvely arranged 1n columnar form and v designating all the zones in which the passenger may leave the vehicle, anda number opposite Veach zone :number and indicating the numbers indicating the fares paid `byall zone irrespective of their' respective boarding zones. f e y In testimony whereof, we have hereunto Set our hands. n

GEORGIETH. HARRIS.

' y ji wiLLiAM i); JACKSON,

.the passengers leaving the vehicle in. each Q 'i .i 47o i 

